A pedal of this type comprises a pedal body having engagement members of a hooking element fixed below the cyclist's shoe, and a pedal axle adapted to be fixed to a pedal crank.
There are known automatic pedals of this type permitting the adjustment of the positioning of the bearing surface of the foot during pedaling. A first adjustment permits moving transversely along the pedal axle the bearing surface of the foot on the pedal relative to the pedal crank to bring the foot as close as possible to this latter without touching it or to space it from the latter. A second adjustment can be provided so as to permit modifying the angle of inclination of the pedal body relative to the pedal axle.
An automatic pedal permitting these adjustments is known from French patent application 99 06274 of the applicant. The pedal body carries a socket forming a seat for a metallic cartridge in which, the pedal axle is disposed. For adjustment of the transverse position of the axle, a circular rib on the cartridge is adapted to coact with one from among several circular grooves arranged in the socket. These circular grooves are disposed one after the other so as to define successive transverse positions of the axle relative to the pedal body. However, the adjustment means comprise a large number of complicated pieces of which certain ones are relatively fragile.
To overcome these drawbacks, the applicant in his French patent 2,811,287 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,676 and EP 1,170,203) proposes simplified adjustment means. The cartridge containing the pedal axle is provided with a screw thread adapted to coact with a tapping in the overall cylindrical recess of the cartridge. The transverse position of the cartridge, and hence of the pedal body, relative to the pedal crank, can also be adjusted by screwing or unscrewing the cartridge in its recess.
This recess is moreover provided in a resiliently deformable support which is slotted adjacent the recess and which can be fixed with the help of securement screws against the lower surface of the pedal body properly so called, so as to hold the cartridge in a selected transverse position by gripping the internal wall of the recess about the cartridge by resilient deformation.
Even if this pedal is generally satisfactory, it nevertheless has several drawbacks. More precisely, it has been seen that in practice, this construction is not entirely reliable as to holding in place the cartridge in its recess. This is due to the fact that the support comprising the recess of the cartridge is of deformable plastic material, which can give rise to a certain flow of this material under mechanical stress due to the gripping of the securement screws and as a result the impairment of the holding function.